Fear Of Coronavirus Mutations, France Suspends All Flights To And From Brazil

Ilustrasi Air France. (Wikimedia Commons/Joe Ravi)

JAKARTA - France has decided to suspend all flights to and from Brazil, as the COVID-19 pandemic situation worsens in Brazil.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex said fears of an increase in the number of casualties and mutations of the new coronavirus led France to take the decision to suspend the flight.

"We note the situation is getting worse. So we have decided to suspend all flights between Brazil and France until further notice", Prime Minister Jean Castex told Euronews on Wednesday, April 14.

A new mutation of the coronavirus known as P.1 was identified first in travelers from Brazil who were tested upon arrival at a Japanese airport in early January.

This has led to devastation in Brazil, where many hospitals and cemeteries are in capacity and the officially recorded number of deaths from COVID-19 has soared from 200.000 to more than 350.000 since the beginning of the year.

So far, there has been little research published on the P.1 mutation, but it is thought there are changes to the surge protein that make it more contagious than the original virus.

France announced the detection of four cases of P.1 infection within its borders in early February. In parliament on Tuesday, Health Minister Olivier Veran said Brazilian and South African mutations were now responsible for about 4 percent of all COVID-19 infections in France, down from 6 percent a month ago.

By contrast, he said, more than 80 percent of new infections in France now come from mutations first identified in the UK last September.

"Proportionally, we see the decline of these mutations, because they are less contagious than the British one", he said.

Before the ban is announced, travelers from Brazil must show a negative test before their departure. Upon arrival in France, they will undergo a 10-day quarantine.

It is known that France has recorded 5.1 million cases of coronavirus since the pandemic began, the highest number in Europe and more than 99.000 deaths due to COVID-19 died in the pandemic.